The ongoing Syrian conflict is one of the most violent, bloody and complex conflicts that broke out in modern time. The Syrian people were inspired by the Arab spring, where popular demonstrations and peaceful protests demanded freedom and democracy. The Syrian regime declared that Syria is in a serious war against terrorism.

This essay will try to analyze the Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad’s propaganda during the revolution against his government in March 2011. The analysis will go through a few of Al-Assad’s speeches and interviews during the Syrian uprising between 2011 and 2012. The study will be based on several fundamental researches that explain the relationship between the Syrian regime and the jihadi Islam in many dimensions before and after 2011. The study will answer the following question: How has the Syrian regime used fight terrorism as propaganda to serve its own political interest during the Syrian uprising 2011?

In my study, I use argumentation analysis as a method, this method is used to assess the credibility and sustainability of text or politics in context. In an argued text, the author aims to convince the reader of something in a critical and reasonable manner of argument. The method used is both descriptive and appreciative of Bashar Al-Assad’s arguments.

The study concluded that Al-Assad from the beginning of his presidency has played a major role of producing Islamists to achieve his own political objectives in the region and was able to take advantage of them while trying to crackdown the Syrian revolution in 2011 through many political acts.

Korruption är ett allvarligt problem som har många negativa effekter på samhällets olika sektorer, därför måste korruption i all dess form bekämpas. De länder som är mest drabbade av korruption är Somalia och Sydsudan. Korruptionen i bland annat dessa länder samt ett flertal andra länder i Afrika har lett till långvariga problem, inte minst för personer som redan har en relativt låg levnadsstandard. Trots anti-korruptionsarbeten och utvecklingsbistånd, existerar korruption fortfarande och dess konsekvenser tenderar att förvärras. Denna undersökning diskuterar faktorer som ligger till grund för korruption och sätter dem i relation till anti-korruptionarbete och utvecklingsbistånd, för att söka svar på varför korruption inte bekämpas.  

Polisvåld mot afroamerikaner är ett stort problem i USA. Våldet är ett tydligt rasistiskt uttryckgentemot en specifik grupp i samhället som utsätts oproportionerligt, vilket innebär att derasrättigheter inskränks. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka faktorer som ligger till grund förpolisvåldet mot afroamerikaner i USA samt hur våldet påverkar deras rättigheter. Fokus i dennastudie ligger på två teorier som hävdar att det är olika psykologiska och politiska faktorer, samtrasistiska strukturer som ligger till grund för polisvåldet.Polisvåld är ingenting som endast påverkar enstaka individer, utan har en indirekt/direkt påverkanpå alla afroamerikaner. Detta innebär att även de personer som inte utsätts för fysiskt våld kanpåverkas på ett psykiskt sätt, vilket har en stor påverkan på hälsan.

This article discusses Michel Foucault’s analysis of Edouard Manet in relation to contemporary theology and sacramentality. The article argues that Foucault’s work on Manet instigates a move away not only from earlier forms of art or earlier forms of thought but also away from an overarching idea of Christian thinking, and towards a materialist and immanent approach to art and thought as spiritual practices. It is an approach that highlights invisibilities, or what the article names ‘non-places’, in the tangible and material processes of artistic representation in Manet’s work. By doing so, the article suggests, Foucault’s thoughts on Manet not only precede ideas in what goes under the name of new materialism in contemporary theology but even opens for a purely material understanding of sacramentality.

This essay is a try to present the Trikāya doctrine in Māhāyāna Buddhism as a model for a transcending theology that can help those who are living with a “dual Buddhist-Christian religious identity” to overcome conflicts between Buddhism and Christianity. By the Trikāya doctrine we can reach a deeper understanding of the mystical awakening to “Buddha beyond Buddha” (or “God beyond God” as some of the mystics tried to explain); i.e. the transpersonal Dharma and the transpersonal Logos beyond the limited individuals of Gautama and Jesus who both fully realized God as spiritual qualities in body, speech, actions and mind. The point is that we do not need to choose between the Buddha or Christ; instead we can look at them both as living examples of the realization of what Paul Tillich called the “Ultimate Concern” and “Being”.  And probably we can use this model for most religions. 

The aim of this thesis was to determine current legal status as to whether it is allowed to share or upload images on social media without asking for permission. The thesis has examined whether an image shared on social media can be a personal data, legally speaking. The legislation about this subject is spread in different laws, which make it difficult to determine what is allowed to do and not. Furthermore, a survey on Facebook investigated the extent to which people share photos on Facebook without asking the people in the photo. The result showed that a lot of people shares pictures without asking permission if they know the person in the photo. If the participants did not know the person, they did not share the photo to the same extent. The participant also answered the question how well they thought they knew about the legislation regarding personal data, surveillance and crime. Half of the participant estimated that they knew about the legislation.    

Sweden is often described as being one of the more secular nations in the world by various surveys and sources, but how true is this statement? In this paper I examine what has been said on the topic of secularization in Sweden by leading sociologists in the field and then in turn analyze this information in order to finally reach a conclusion of my own. My intention with this bachelor’s thesis is to shine a light on the relationship between what has come to be described as the ”post-christian” population by sociologist David Thurfjell and the process of secularization on an individual level.The two questions that form the basis for this paper are: ” Is the swedish population as secular/non-believing as it’s claimed to be?” and “Has there been a shift in the form the Christian religion takes on an individual level and if so what can this new shape then possibly look like?”.The result of the analysis indicates that the swedish population might not be as secular as it is often put forward as being. While the church-oriented religion that the Church of Sweden represents might be losing traction amongst the post-Christian population, this does not necessarily mean religion as a whole is in a gradual decline in swedish society. The information presented herein points towards a possible shift in swedish society from a mainly church-oriented form of religion to a more privatized version sometimes described as the invisible religion.

Denna studie handlar om afghanska familjelivet i Sverige och ska visa vilken bild afghaner visar i det nya samhället gällande mänskliga rättigheter. Det utförs genom att afghaner i Sverige får svara på frågor gällande hur kvinnor och män ser på sina roller i familjen i nya samhället, samt hur de ser på barnets uppfostran. Metoden som uppsatsen är baserad på är en kvalitativ forskning och Georgs Simmels teori om främling har tillämpats i studien. Denna studie är bestående av tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med afghaner som bor i Stockholm. Av intervjuerna framgår att afghaner har olika uppfattning om familjelivet i Sverige och beroende på personer har de antingen blivit integrerade eller inte i det nya samhället. I studien framkommer att intervjupersoner har samma mönster som de har från hemlandet som det leder till kulturkrock i nya samhället. Det visar att afghaner bor ett kollektivt samhälle fast de bor i ett individualistiskt land, det finns skillnader värderingar och enligt Simmels teori kan man säga att är afghaner fysiskt i Sverige och psykiskt i hemlandet.

The aim of this thesis is to highlight the various accessibilities for people with disabilities in the relatively large municipality named Norrköping, Sweden. I’ve chosen to focus on how a group of people comprehend the accessibilities for people with disabilities in this municipality. The framing question that I’ve issued is; How is the physical accessibility for disabled individuals secured in Norrköping and how is the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities complied? To answer this, I’ll use the following two methods; literature studies and interviews/field surveys. In the first, I highlight relevant literature and in the second I investigate what views the municipality, along with 20 randomly selected women and 20 randomly selected men, have on the accessibilities for individuals with disabilities in Norrköping. The results of this study is based on the interviews of 20 men and 20 women in different ages. The interviews were made through surveys that were answered outside of the Campus in Norrköping. These results of the survey answers are presented in bar graphs. I chose to categorize men and women aged 18-30years and +31 to see what different competence levels there are on the physical accessibilities in Norrköping. Based on the survey I could see that, despite the age, the majority thought that there are gaps where the physical accessibilities in Norrköping is of shortage. My study shows that Norrköping has come a long way with the physical accessibilities, but not enough to state that people with disabilities have a full participation in the society.

What are borders? Walls, fences, barbed wires, sovereignty markers, nationalities, symbols, cultures, religions, skin colours, prejudices… Where are borders? In reality, in jurisdiction, in our minds, on maps, in citizenship, inside our bodies, in our gaze… What do borders do? Define, separate, exclude, include, discriminate, hurt, rape, reduce…

The concept of borders is complex and it represents paradoxes such as visible - invisible, reinforcing - weakening, inclusion - exclusion and legal - illegal. In this essay borders are treated from a political philosophical perspective with arguments drawn mainly from the theorists Étienne Balibar, Wendy Brown and Shahram Khosravi. The case is analysed and illustrated by empirical data from mass media reporting. Borders, both visible and invisible, contain a powerful symbolism and affect us as individuals, groups and society. Discussing borders makes weaknesses of the human rights system visible. Borders might affect people's ability to gain access to universal human rights. Where and why do we mark borders and who gets be in or out?

The purpose of this thesis is to do a qualitative content analysis, with queer theory as a starting point, of the Swedish Migration Agency’s judicial stance regarding the procedure of assessing reliability and credibility as well as judicial stance regarding the investigation and examination of the forthcoming risk of persons claiming protection due to sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expressions. To conduct this analysis one research question were formulated: How can one from a theoretical perspective analyze the Swedish Migration Agency's method of assessing whether a person is likely to belong to the LGBTQI group? The study’s theoretical theorems are cumulated from Fanny Ambjörnsson’s book ”What is queer?” and six categories and themes were chosen to use as tools during the content analysis of the selected judicial stances. These six categories and themes are; the value of the language, the desire or the habit of classifying people, normalization, heteronormativity, silence and visibility as well as stereotyping. The study showed that comprise criticism can be directed towards the Swedish Migration Agency's method of assessing whether a person is likely to belong to the LGBTQI group and towards the procedure of assessing a asylum seekers reliability and credibility.

Seven long years of conflict in Syria with humanitarian catastrophe as consequence.The UN and the blocked Security Council, with the inability to address the deteriorating political andhumanitarian situation in Syria, actualizes the former Secretary-General Kofi Annan's words beforethe General Assembly in 2000:"... if humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should werespond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica - to gross and systematic violations of human rights thataffect every prescription of our common humanity?"From the Cold War until today, the UN system has failed to live up to the high expectations basedon the fundamental principles of the Charter and international law, which can be attributed to theimbalance between the General Assembly and the Security Council, as well as within the Councilbetween the five permanent members with individual veto and the chosen six.The question is not new. The tension in power balance and decision-making in the UN has existedsince the organization's formation. Interestingly in this context, the resolution Uniting for Peace,which was adopted in 1950, has as its starting point the unrestricted power of veto in relation to theGeneral Assembly's responsibility for peace and security.The resolutions Responsibility to Protect and Uniting for Peace become important and necessaryfor the understanding of the conflict in Syria, but also for a reform work motivated by humanitarianlaw. The meaning of the concepts of sovereignty, veto and erga omnes is therefore decisive in thebalance between de lege lata and de lege ferenda, with can be clarified by de lege interpretata.This essay will try to make the connection between these concepts more intelligible.

The objective of this study is to investigate if the historical Jesus was a tax resister and what the motives may have been for that. The study presents a survey of the ancient Galilean economy, with a focus on the taxes paid by the general population, and looks at ancient tax resistance movements in the Galilean community and nearby. Three gospel texts containing accusations of Jesus for tax resistance are analyzed in detail. The study shows that it is reasonable to suggest that the historical Jesus resisted the payment of taxes to the Roman (and possibly Herodian) authorities, based on that Jesus sympathized with the same agendas as the fourth philosophy did, and that Jesus had a compassion for the peasants who lived under an exploiting taxation.

This thesis is about masculinity and society with a focus on the consequences of masculinity in a culture of honour. The framing questions in this thesis are the following two; - What consequences does the masculine inheritance inherit in the culture of honour for boys and young men who grow up in socially vulnerable areas? - How are their feelings of confidence in the future affected and what ways they see as open in life and in society? I have chosen to use methods of group interviews with five guys and young men in a segregated area in Stockholm. During these interviews, I assumed Yvonne Hirdman's theories about the gender system. I chose to ask questions to express the boys' perception of how they perceive themselves and indirectly their views on honour, equality and sexuality. The interview results showed that young people experience stigmatisation, they lack a future trust and feel that they are excluded from the majority of society. I realised that it was not enough to explain the culture of honour as only a cultural phenomenon, it also lacked a multi- dimensional power perspective.

My first contact with the Armenians of Jerusalem was during a four day Minor Field Study in February 2015.1 Before that I hardly knew anything about the community that has such a long history in the region. Despite their lengthy presence in what is commonly known as the Holy Land, the fact that they are joint custodians of the Christian Holy places and even have a whole quarter named after them in the Old City, they seem to be somewhat of a mystery to most people that visit. They are a minority that hold on to many of their distinct features regarding religion and culture from their homeland, something that is the trademarks of what is commonly known as a diaspora. The importance of culture and faith for the Armenian people seemed to be stressed time after another during my research. Pride was expressed to have endured as a people through many hardships. The Armenian Genocide stands out as the most significant of the many sufferings. Alongside with the traumatic consequences of the genocide is the ongoing struggle fought on many fronts for global recognition of the atrocities committed against their people.The largest group of Armenians in Jerusalem are situated in the Armenian Quarter. At the center of both the territorial and the structural composition of this community lies the convent of Saint James. Not only does the brotherhood of Saint James, consisting of about 30 brothers, and other clergy reside inside the convents premises. The majority consists of lay people. The lay community though has been decreasing for a number of years.2 If the current trend continues it may, according to some predictions, even vanish in the future.3 A gloomy outcome that would radically change the makeup of the Old City of Jerusalem.Therefore, after my first Minor Field Study, I went back four times during the coming year to learn more. I was also granted a scholarship through Stockholm School of Theology to conduct a Minor Field Study among Armenian youth. When first voicing my interest to interview youth and learn more about their identity I was told by a local contact that it would be futile. Because of the pressures of everyday life in Jerusalem few youth would have something relevant to share. They are forced to live day by day due to the ongoing conflicts. A strong statement that cannot be taken as true without evidence. This confirms the importance of conducting a more in depth study concerning how Armenian youth reflect on identity and belonging. The very existence of a future Armenian community in Jerusalem depends on their youths desire and ability to remain in the City.

The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is a canonical text for many including its portrayals of illness. This article explores the narrative representation of illness in three longer narratives in the Hebrew Bible by means of a close reading. The narratives are all legends of some sort and involve terminal or impossible illnesses and the prophet. In 2 Kings 4 the story revolves around illness as an enigma and involves the motifs of hospitality, responsibility, and empowerment in an ever expanding plot. In 2 Kings 5 leprosy as an incurable disease stands at the center and the story develops through several contrasting motifs including greatness, simplicity, and humility. In 2 Kings 20/Isaiah 38 illness is a death warrant leading to bitterness, and the story probes the necessity and honesty of prayer. Two common traits in the narratives are prayer and argument as a response to illness, and the status of the prophet as a health care consultant.

Suggests that narrative features bring some coherence to the book of Numbers, but not total. The narrative features are here here sorted into four rough groups, which both contribute to and disrupt the coherence of the work. The article is a prequel to my doctoral thesis.

The study aims to analyze claimants encounter with Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) drawing on theories of power. It investigates how this contact has affected the claimants’ view of themselves as contributing citizens. The study has mainly focused on the experiences of assessments for sickness benefit claims as well as the interaction with case officers during the proceedings. The study found that the institutionalized power relations between the citizen and the agency were internalized by the informants. Specifically, it resulted in an altered sense of human worth and societal contribution. Informants described being distanced with regards to agency and society, and internalizing the perception of being a second class citizen. The study showed that the claimants’ experiences of the assessment proceedings led to feeling systematically marginalized by the state. The power influence the informants were subjected to by the agency, resulted in introverted as well as extroverted resistance and ultimately power reclaim. It is in part demonstrated through their participation in the study and their wish to bring the question to light.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the argumentation for the freedom of speech versus the right to safety was presented when these rights came in conflict with each other when a neo-Nazi organization was allowed to co-arrange Almedalen 2017. The material consists of press statements, debate articles and news articles where the arguments of four key agents connected to Almedalsveckan 2017 were collected. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, the argumentation is analyzed by answering three research questions: How did each agent present their argument? How did the argumentation rely on current law? How did the agents rely on the others’ rights claim? The argumentation is analyzed qualitatively through a normative theory in order to investigate how the claims were made for each right. The agents that claim freedom of speech are Region Gotland and the police. The agents that claim the right to safety are RFSL and Funktionsrätt Sverige together with the JAG Association. The argumentation is categorized thematically for each agent and every category is analyzed separately. The results show that both sides used emotionally charged arguments or affective language and both sides may be considered as lacking in concretization regarding the meaning of their main arguments. Both sides clearly relied on current law by either mentioning laws explicitly or implicitly. All of the agents made some statement about the other key agent’s position or responsibility. Both sides can be considered as having valid right claims by referring to intrinsic values and current law. In the end, Region Gotland and the police have the right to determine who is allowed to co-arrange Almedalen and can therefor decide which claimed rights that is prioritized in the value hierarchy. Furthermore, the study shows that each conflict of rights needs to be valued individually as the circumstances, consequences and claims are crucial for the determination of the hierarchy. For future research, I recommend investigating how the public opinion considers allowing or limiting neo-Nazi’s freedom of opinions, as well as investigating how the Swedish praxis regarding the application and restriction of freedom of opinions for neo-Nazi organizations and parties is carried.

The issue of Christian Zionism is one that is fiercely debated within theology, the church, politics, and society. Comprehending Christian Zionism brings together an international consortium of scholars and researchers to reflect on the network of issues and topics surrounding this critical subject. The volume provides a lens on the history of Zionism within Christian theology and offers a constructive, multidimensional path for assessment and introspection around the meaning of Zionism to Christian faith and practice.